Elche's Uruguayan midfielder Federico Redondo fights for the ball with Atletico Madrid's English midfielder Conor Gallagher (right)
Elche gained their first away point against Atletico Madrid since October 1968, as Rafa Mir cancelled out an early strike from Alexander Sorloth at the Metropolitano Stadium, keeping Diego Simeone’s men winless after two rounds of LaLiga action (D1, L1).
With the words of the Rojiblancos’ coach still ringing in their ears after a 2-1 season-opening loss to Espanyol, Atletico wasted little time in getting off the mark here.
A series of neat passes around the back culminated in a ball over the top from David Hancko to Sorloth, who timed his run to perfection and buried the twice-bouncing ball with a first-time strike past a far-too-hesitant Matias Dituro.
He clearly had the appetite for more, too, and nearly got a second after latching onto a Thiago Almada pass through the lines, only to find his shot brilliantly repelled wide by Dituro at his near post.
Such missed opportunities are known to yield a sucker punch, and after an earlier warning that saw Mir head across goal under pressure from Pablo Barrios, he got a leveller that silenced the Metropolitano Stadium.
Following Dituro’s aforementioned save from Sorloth, Atletico’s corner was overhit, gifting possession to German Valera.
Still on a high after becoming the fourth-youngest player to score on his LaLiga debut for Elche this century, he launched a diagonal cross-field pass to Alvaro Rodriguez, who in turn spotted the run of Mir and squared the ball, allowing him to fire low past Jan Oblak.
That leveller made it two goals in as many LaLiga away games, following his final-day equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Real Betis last term. But despite the confidence they gained from getting a draw of their own against the Verdiblancos last week, Elche weren’t going to take something from the capital that easily.
As expected, Atletico stepped up a gear, and Barrios nearly found Sorloth at point-blank range, but the Norwegian hitman was well-marshalled by an Elche defence that looked content to wait for the perfect counter.
Alternative routes to goal were increasingly needed from an Atletico perspective, and when Giuliano Simeone saw a powerful effort from the edge of the area blocked, there was more of an attacking effort.
Key match stats
Elche didn’t give their hosts an inch, though, largely restricting them to the flanks and rendering their possession impotent - a low Antoine Griezmann potshot from distance with 25 minutes to go summarised Atletico’s frustration at being unable to penetrate into the area as regularly as they wanted.
In the dying minutes, a good chance fell to Marcos Llorente, but he could only fire wide when put through by a well-improvised Hancko ball. Ultimately, it was to be a meagre point for an Atletico side that has now won just three of its last eight LaLiga matches against newly promoted opposition (D3, L2).
For their part, Elche will feel as though this is a true moral victory, but despite now being winless in 25 prior top-flight visits to Atletico’s turf - and seven LaLiga trips to the Madrid community overall - they’ll go into next week’s home clash with fellow newcomers Levante feeling confident.
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